


Confrontation

by marsbarsandcookiejars



Series: Course of Events [3]
Category: Veronica Mars (TV), Veronica Mars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 06:15:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21156956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marsbarsandcookiejars/pseuds/marsbarsandcookiejars
Summary: How they got their answers and how they overcame the pain that came with them.





	Confrontation

“Veronica, can I talk to you?” She thought she was hearing things and was surprised that, when she looked up, Duncan actually was standing by her locker. It wasn’t her imagination, he was actually talking to her. She wanted to make a sarcastic remark. She wanted to point at herself with a ‘who, me?’ gesture. She wanted to pull out her compact, gasp at her reflection, and exclaim, “Oh no! My invisibility potion wore off!” She wanted to make him flinch at the fact that she was pissed off that he had been ignoring her for so long. 

But this was Duncan. It wasn’t Logan whose default setting was sarcasm. It wasn’t Lilly who lived and breathed for Veronica’s sass. It was Duncan, who was very sensitive and very literal. So, she didn’t do any of those things. She just swallowed it all down and gave him a nod, and when she did, he visibly relaxed. “Maybe you could give me a ride home today and we could talk in the car? I’ll call the driver and let him know not to pick me up.” Again all she could do was nod and when he gave her a small smile before walking away, she was relieved it didn’t revive the butterflies in her stomach that used to live for that smile. 

Her last class of the day was Chemistry and, try as she might, she couldn’t will herself to care about ink chromatography. Actually, that wasn’t entirely true. She did care. She cared that the exasperating anticipation she felt waiting for the school day to end was mockingly materializing itself as the agonizingly slow ascent of wet ink.  _ Stupid lab and stupid Duncan for waiting until the end of the school day. He’s been sitting with us at lunch for a week already, he could’ve talked to me then, any day this week. Nope, he chooses to wait until the end of the day, the last day before Thanksgiving Break. Coward... Stupid Honors Chemistry with students who actually care about their observations instead of chattering through the experiment and making time pass by faster. Honors English isn’t this boring, we gossip and lollygag in there just as much as the reg-  _

** _BRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIING _ **

And suddenly, all Veronica wanted to do was stare at that tiny strip of climbing diluted ink. No matter what Duncan had to say to her, there was no way it wouldn’t hurt her somehow. For two months, she’d been imagining finally talking to Duncan and suddenly she had to force herself not to stand at her locker longer than necessary, not to run up to the second floor to make sure she didn’t have English homework, and not to take a trip to the bathroom.  _ But what if there’s traffic?  _ ** _No. _ **

She wasn’t sure when, but Duncan managed to find a place next to her as she walked to her car. She could tell it was him, but couldn’t manage to glance up. She just stared at her feet the whole walk to the parking lot. She didn’t look up until they got to her car and she unlocked his door. He gave her that small awkward smile again and she managed a small one back. 

“I want to tell you why I just stopped talking to you.” He started hesitantly. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and nodded as she backed out of her parking space and made her way to the exit. “It’s kinda… unnerving so I think we should wait until we get to my house. I don’t want to cause an accident. I just wanted to tell you what I wanted to talk about before we left the school so you could change your mind.” 

“Duncan, I’m sure whatever it is, I can handle it. I’m not going to crash the car. Just tell me.”

“No, it’s pretty big. I think we should wait. It’s only like a ten-minute drive.” Veronica’s jaw clenched and it got harder for her to stay calm. Of course, he didn’t care about waiting. He’d known why he stopped talking to her for over two months already. Of course, he didn’t care that Veronica had been stewing over this for weeks and ten more minutes might actually cause her to boil over. It took all her strength not to lash out at him, but she wanted answers and he had them, so she took a deep breath. She could do this. 

Traffic was light and, sooner than either of them really wanted, they were in front of the Kanes’ house. She turned the car off and turned to look at Duncan. He had his hands over his knees and he kept balling them in and out of fists. He felt her staring at him and let out a sigh. 

“After homecoming, my mom started to get really invested in our relationship. She kept… ugh, she kept asking me if we were having sex and it was getting really weird and one day I just snapped at her, y’know to tell her to back off. Then, she just blurted it out… that your mom and my dad are having an affair. That they have been off and on since high school. She said… she said that you were my sister.” 

“And you believed her? Just like that? Did you talk to your dad and find out if it was even true?” Veronica was sick. She couldn’t believe Duncan would just take that at face value. He must have done something to confirm it, right?

“Of course I did and when he confirmed it, I was just so upset and sick. I had no idea what to do or how to tell you. Every time I looked at you, I just couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t hurt you like that. It was just easier to pretend like I didn’t see you.” 

“God Duncan! You’re so stupid! You should’ve just told me, we could’ve taken a paternity test and figured it all.”

“I couldn’t Veronica! What if you are my sister and the test comes back and your mom wants to take you away from your dad or something? I used to think my dad and your parents were the only decent parents left in Neptune and then I find out that our parents and I’ve got no good parents left and you’ve only got your dad. I couldn’t take that away from you, I love you!” 

Veronica was shaking and she felt sick. She was so confused, she didn’t know what to feel. She wanted to cry and scream and laugh all at the same time. This couldn’t be her life. This is the stuff of soap operas and bad movies, not the life of a normal teenager. 

“I need to talk to my mom. Thank you for telling me, Duncan. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Look, Veronica-”

“I just really need to be alone right now, okay?” Duncan nodded and grabbed his bag. When he got out of the car, he turned around like he was going to say something, but decided not to and just waved. It took Veronica a good ten minutes before she could move the car out of the driveway. A million thoughts were running through her head, but the one that kept coming to the front of her mind was her dad. “ _ ...take you away from your dad…”  _ She couldn’t lose her dad, he was the only person who she trusted completely. She couldn't lose him so close to losing Lilly. She needed to do something. She needed to talk to her mom. 

  
  



End file.
